


Snowy Paws

by GarrulousParakeet



Series: Holidays In Zootopia [2]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Children, Christmas, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Holiday, Romance, Snow, Winter
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-23
Updated: 2017-02-03
Packaged: 2018-09-11 12:35:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8979958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GarrulousParakeet/pseuds/GarrulousParakeet
Summary: Fluffy to a sickening extent. The holiday season has hit Zootopia, and Judy isn’t going to let Nick forget what that means.





	1. Things Most Find Awfully Endearing

**Author's Note:**

> It would be wise of me to inform you that this is the second in a serious of Holiday themed Wildehopps Fics, that is to say, there is one before this. You don’t have to read the first one to understand the events of this one, but I’d recommend it. A certain fluffle of bunnies appears again, and a lot of their characterization lies in the last fic. You can find it in my stories under “Trick or Treat You Right”!  
> Enjoy!

Things most find awfully endearing:

The little cubs and kits you find caroling outside your apartment door when dusk finally sets on the animal metropolis. For once you actually appreciate the sound of children making a ruckus outside. Also, few can resist the charms of the holiday specials which run through the night; you know, the ones with the stop-motion animation? What can manage to compare to the way your loved ones curl around one another on the couch when listening to the sickeningly saccharine holiday tunes are sung by cartoon mammals; ah, I’m afraid I do not know. Equally heartwarming – provided you aren’t some scrooge of an animal – would be the way a bear cub’s mother will smother his cheeks in sloppy smooches and run her kindly claws through the fluffy fur upon his head before he runs out the door and joins the other children for whatever winter themed activity they had decided they’d be cutting their teeth upon that foggy December morning.

Just a little bit more endearing, too a fox that is, was the sight of downy snow settling upon Judy Hopps’ window sill this morning.

No, that’s not quite it.

The sight was somewhat pretty, but without proper context, I’m afraid the real beauty of it all might be lost on you.

What is really, _positively_ , without a doubt endearing is this:

The rabbit – Judy Hopps, the very same – drooling just a little on the red fox’s arm as she slept in peace; while he alone watched the snowfall find its way onto her window sill.

Nick Wilde tried to stifle a grumble so as to not wake the sleeping bunny rabbit. Her heart beat tapped against his own chest as he held her close. He knew for an absolute fact that he’d regret it if he got up right now and spoiled the moment, but he knew equally well that he’d regret it if he didn’t. Grumbling again – silently and without motion of course – he cursed the catch twenty-two presented to him and resigned to getting out of their warm, _shared_ bed.

But before that, he figured he might as well snuggle her a little closer for another couple seconds. He moved his paws from the small of her back to her neck and smothered her face into his fluffy, untrimmed chest. Of course, in doing so, he lathered himself further in her drool – she had a bit of a problem – but he didn’t particularly mind. He kissed her pink nose and rubbed the underside of his chin against her neck.

When he was as satisfied as he was going to get, he uncoiled an arm from her form and let it worm its way out of the folds of blankets they had entombed themselves in. Carefully, he drew the comforter off them; taking care to leave his other arm wrapped around the bunny rabbit so as to make sure she wouldn’t get too lonely too quickly. Then, he gave a firm tug on the second layer of sheets, pulling them from his shoulders. The third layer took some extra effort to wriggle out of, and while a spry fox like himself could typically have himself out of such a cocoon in a swish of a lamb’s tail, it was decidedly more complicated when you have a cute little bunny attached to you. In fact, when priority one is the continued good night’s rest of said bunny; the act becomes nigh impossible, but Mr. Wilde always took great pride in his ability to slip out of any tricky situation. He rolled over onto his side and gently threw the final blanket off himself, and by extension: his rabbit. She held him a little closer and her buck teeth chattered for a moment.

He grumbled again, because now he must do the unthinkable. Slowly – and with the utmost of care – he drew his arm out from under the fluffy bunny who had claimed it as her own.

Which immediately drew a frustrated mewl from her lips.                     

The rabbit groped at the air with half lidded eyes, more asleep than awake, as Nick frantically tried to crawl away from her and create distance.

“ _Don’t be like that, fluff_.”

He rolled off the bed, leaving the needy bunny to groan as she slept, almost as though some less-savory dream had just come to replace the sweet one she had just dreamt.

He watched her toss and turn for a while, paws on his hips. How dare he just leave her to suffer like this?

With one paw, he took up a blanket and gave her the other to hold onto; which she gladly accepted. He took to wrapping her up tight, swaddling her in the sheets – much like a mother fox would swaddle her kit – till she looked like a little bunny bean.

He took a moment to step back and admire his handiwork – pawiwork? – And smiled to himself. Her face poked through, all fluffy and gray and smooth and shiny; as round as the precious moon that sat snug in the blanket the sky provided that night, the same moon he was almost certain she herself had spiraled down from.

She wriggled a little, clearly disappointed with the arrangement.

The fox bit his lower lip. This wouldn’t do, no this wouldn’t do at all. He took up another pawful of sheets and set to wrapping the bun up a little more snug. By the time he had finished it, she was less of a bunny bean and more of a bunny burrito.

And still she tossed and turned, restless in her slumber.

He rubbed the sleep from his foxy eyes and placed a paw under his chin, thinking. With the last of the blankets, he wrapped her up tight, leaving a tiny bunny face to stick out of a mountain of fabric sat atop their bed.

_Yes, this is good._

Her nose twitched gently, and she drooled a little more on herself.

“ _Stop._ ” He whispered, a more so to himself then to her.

“ _Dumb rabbit…”_

He placed a clawed finger on her wiggly, pink nose so that it would quit doing that cute thing it does, and wiped her chin before leaning in closer to her. He kissed her right between the eyes and went to draw back.

But something stopped him. He kissed her on the cheek, the chin and her closed eye lid.

She stirred in her sleep again, this time a little more forcefully, and he thought he may have woke her. A quiet chirping met his ears. It was something sweet peaceful and sweet, like the song of one of those squawky birds who could actually sing quite well if you ask them kindly.

She was snoring.

He kissed her on the forehead – a little more gentle this time – and backed up from the scene so as to make sure he wouldn’t spend the rest of the morning watching over her. His dresser was his next stop. The drawers sat half way across the bedroom, next to Judy’s stuff, and a journey spanning half of her room felt like quite the odyssey on this nippy winter night, but a necessary one regardless.  Ruffling through the clothes he had crammed into the wooden box on the day he first moved in, he picked out a pair of boxers and pants. Tossing a few shirts out onto the floor, he found the ugly, pea green sweater his girlfriend had bought him when winter first struck and slipped it over his head; pressing his ears down against his head and out of the way.

The fox turned back to look at the burrito wrap of a rabbit he had made moments ago.

_Yeah, she looks like she’ll stay warm, at least for a little while._

…

Stepping out into the streets, the fox whipped his tail as a shiver climbed up his spine. He looked down at his watch; two o’ clock in the morning. The festive bulbs strewn about the city had already begun to glow their reds and greens and golds, causing him to squint a little against the glare. He spread the toes of his feet-paws for a moment, getting used to the cool concrete below him, and began to walk down the street.

A snowflake or two landed on his coal black nose, sending him cross-eyed in an attempt to get a better look at them.

He paused.

He looked to his right and to his left. Nobody was outside at the moment.

Sticking his tongue out and curling it upwards, he licked the white fluff from the tip of his muzzle and smiled to himself. Something about the holiday season got him a little “sick in the head” as he had called it. He smiled more often than usual, and not that smug “devil-may-care” smile he was so fervently known for. His smile was that of a dopey kit experiencing a magic trick for the first time. Even more damning is the sudden hankering for sweets he’d get during this time of the year. Rarely would he and Judy manage to pass the local bakery – they made gingerbread during the winter – without the fox meekly turning to look down at his girlfriend with round puppy-fox eyes, wordlessly begging to take a trip inside, which she always complied to.

“Hey, Wilde”

“I swear this isn’t what it looks like-”

Nick wiped the saliva off his nostrils before spinning around to peer into the nearby alleyway, terrified to find who it was that caught him in the act of licking snowflakes off of his schnoz. He found nobody.

And then he looked down.

“Listen, I don’t really care. You in the market for a tree?” the fennec fox questioned, reclining in a lawn chair set up outside his van.

You’d think a fox would recognize his old business partner’s vehicle of choice, but a few other words could be used to describe the metal chariot before “recognizable”. The entire machine had been decorated in red and white scraps of wrapping paper, evoking the imagery of a giant present. The little fox even took the initiative to string some lights across top. If that wasn’t enough to throw even the slickest of the sleuths off, one good sniff revealed to the sniffer wafting scent of spruce resonating from the inside of the van.

Not exactly the typical look of the ride of a gruff little mammal such as himself.

“Didn’t take you for the festive type, bud.” Nick said, rubbing his tired eyes as he approached the little guy before him. “Though ‘shady guy who tries to sell junk to whoever is dumb enough to approach his particular shadowy alleyway’ does seem to fit your m.o.”

Finnick rolled his eyes.

“All part of the hustle.”

Nick snickered.

“You wanna tree or what? I’m sure Ms. Toot Toot would appreciate the thought.”

Nick seemed to chuckle at the mention of the nickname before taking a peek inside the van, admiring the spruce.

“Or does she go by Mrs. Wilde as of late?”

Nick turned to the little fox and lifted his snout in the air, indignant, before tipping the lawn chair over with a swift kick of his foot.

Finnick scrambled to get back up off the floor, snarling as he did so.

“Buy a tree, _dammit_!”

“Ah…” the taller fox sighed, “I don’t know lil’ guy. Are you sure these puppies are _legal_?”

“What do you take me for, officer?” the fennec chocked out under a laugh, setting his chair upright again and settling back in.

“Wouldn’t want to arrest a toddler, not this close to Christmas.” Nick said, his eyes half lidded, his smile a tight crescent on his mouth.

“You’re crossing a line Nicky…”

“I’m _not_ in the market for trees, pal, but thanks for the offer.” Nick interrupted.

Finnick groaned.

“Thanks for wasting my goat-damn time…”

The red fox smiled at his dusty friend.

“Have a good one bud.” He said, turning to walk back down the street.

The little fox looked away, upset.

“And happy holidays.”

.

.

.

“You too. Get home to that bun soon, would ya?”

…

He turned the street corner and stopped.

In the district square stood a pine tree which somehow managed to dwarf the giraffes of the city. Candy Red tinsel with little, deep green charms strewn about it wrapped itself round the tree, weaving in and out of the branches. Bulbs of every color lit the attraction up, somehow managing to be more gaudy then the lights strewn about Main Street. Also worth mentioning, were the peppermint sticks which hung daintily from the boughs which seemed to stick out most from the rest of the tree.

It _could_ be described as magical, but that would be sort of lame, wouldn’t it?

He sat down on the nearest bench he could find, because his paw pads were really cold and he didn’t have much business walking around town at this hour anyways. He wanted to clear his head, but he really ought to stop putting off the inevitable.

He dug into his pants pocket, retrieving a week-old stick of gum.

He glared at it in disappointment.

_When was the last time he washed these?_

He shoved his paw back into the pocket, pulling out his phone. Dialing a number and pressing the phone to his ear, he took a deep breath. The automated bells behind him started their cheery chiming, filling the brisk, nebulous morning air with a sweet melody that would have made the fox roll his eyes any other time of year. His nose snuffled, picking up the scent of cinnamon before the tailwind blew it away from him and back towards the tree.

A voice on the other line spoke up.

He cleared his voice before speaking. “Mom?”

The voice happily chattered to the fox, drawing a small smile out of his muzzle.

“It’s nice hearing from you too, ma. How was your flight?”

The voice tittered back, going on for a little while longer than was necessary.

“Yeah, that’s to be expected.” He said with a chuckle. “Kits can be-“

He paused for a moment, remembering a few bunnies he had grown to love as of late.

“- rowdy.” He finished; his smile growing larger. “Need me to come pick you up?”

The voice on the other end replied quickly, its excitement apparent.

“Is she now? I knew Aunt Marian cared, but enough to get out of bed at _this_ hour? What a Saint!”

As the voice continued on and on, the fox’s gaze drifted back to the tree. Would Judy like it if he went out and bought one for the apartment? Growing up, he never had a Christmas tree. The scent was too overpowering for a fox’s nose to deal with for an entire week. Was that a thing bunnies did though? He’d have to-

His train of thought was interrupted by something the voice said.

“Oh- are you spending the holidays with Aunt Marian this year?”

The voice replied.

“That’s nic-“

The voice interrupted.

“Me? I’m not…”

The voice continued.

“No- I’m gonna-”

He could hardly get a word in.

“I’m spending it with my gal, remember her?”

A drawn out “Oh” resonated through his phone, resulting in more excited tittering.

“Meet her? You want to- I…” Nick fumbled over his words for a moment, sitting up on the bench. “I suppose you could, but-“

The voice continued.

“Vixen? Mom, you don’t-“he tried to speak over the voice, but it made a point to not let that happen. “You really should just spend the holidays with your sister, we’re boring over here, I-“

The voice scolded him.

Nick held his tongue. He ran a paw down his face, wiping the snow which had happened to accumulate upon his muzzle now. “…Yes ma’am…”

The voice lightened up.

Nick let the smile crawl back up his face, this time a bit more apprehensive.

“Ok…” he whispered. “See ya then. I love you too.”

He hung up.

Apparently, it hadn’t dawned on his mother that his girlfriend might be something other than a vixen.

…

_“Mmm…”_

A rabbit stepped out of the bedroom doorway just in time to see her favorite fox brewing up a batch of hot cocoa.

“ _Well_ , look who’s awake.” Nick said, spreading his arms wide open.

Judy ambled towards him groggily, stuffing her face into his fluffy cream chest. She wore a shirt several times too large for her. Its Hawaiian print stuck out sorely on the green cloth.

“How in the world are you awake before me?”

“Guess you slept in.”

Judy pulled away from his chest to take a peek at the clock set atop the kitchen stove.

“It’s six in the morning.” She grumbled, stuffing her face back into him.

The fox sighed, rubbing the nape of her neck gently.

“I was up talking with my mom.”

Judy tilted her head upwards.

Nick tilted his downwards.

“Did she have a nice flight?”

The fox shrugged before nodding.

“That’s good.”

She nuzzled into his chest again, prompting Nick to sway back and forth gently. He brushed her ears back against her head and laid his muzzle across the top of her.

“She wants to spend Christmas with us.”

Judy ceased her swaying and let the fox go. She smiled a smile a tad too bright for the fox on this early morning day.

“Nick, that’s great!”

“It is?”

“Yes! She’ll love it here!”

“She will?”

“And she’s going to have the chance to meet my parents!”

“She’ll _what_!?”

“Speaking of which, I really ought to run down to the train station soon. The kits are gonna be here in an hour or two.”

Nick froze up. The gears in his head turned a little – it’s been a little while since they had last shifted around, so you’ll have to excuse the poor guy – and he thought.

The bunny before him stood clapping her paws cheerily.

And he thought.

The entire thing felt like a fever dream.

And he reached no logical conclusion.

“Judy, is your family coming to town?”

The bunny stopped her joyful outburst.

“ _Nick_.”

“ _Judy.”_

The rabbit looked up at the fox, less surprised and more…

Horribly disappointed.

She pressed two furry digits to the bridge of her tiny nose, rubbing it in frustration.

“We talked about this last Halloween.”

“That was months ago!”

The rabbit groaned.

Nick rubbed his forehead before beginning again. “Ok, give me the quick notes version of what I should be expecting.

Judy crossed her arms over her chest and took a deep breath, trying to reach some inner Zen and banishing the urge to fight her partner right here, right now.

“Mom and dad are going to spend Christmas Eve, that’s today by the way-“

Nick rolled his eyes at her patronization.

“- with the family back at the farm. Now, a few of my siblings were eager to show up today, so they hopped on the train to the savannah central. Care to guess which ones they might be?”

Nick fought off the urge to grin as he leaned back against the kitchen table.

“I have a hunch.”

Judy smiled before continuing. “Later tonight, mom and dad are going to catch a train over. They’ll be here tomorrow morning. Any of this sound familiar to you?”

Nick pondered if any of this sounded familiar to him, and decided that it didn’t.

“It’s been forever since we planned this all out. You need to remind me about these things!”

“You’re a grown mammal! You don’t need reminders!”

Nick shook his head in disappointment before scooping the bunny back up into his arms.

“You and I both know that isn’t true.”

Judy didn’t try to fight him, instead grumbling something into his chest fur. The fox clicked his tongue as if to scold her.

“Things like this can be avoided if we practice a little forward thinking, hunny bunny.”

Judy shifted in his arms. “You’re going to make me hurl.”

“Shh…” the fox cooed, rubbing the small of her back. “Fear not. I, despite not having _any_ forewarning whatsoever, will do everything within my power to give your family the best city Christmas they’ve _ever_ had.”

Judy had given up on trying to fight him at this point, instead opting to melt into his warm arms.

.

.

.

“Nick you’re crushing me, I can’t breathe.”

“Good…” he whispered into her oversized ear, beginning to rock them back and forth again.

“Then maybe I’ll finally be rid of you.”

…

Things which bring most great discomfort:

Accidently stepping into a murky puddle on a hot, muggy summer day. Watching an enemy succeed at something you once thought yourself good at. Losing the remote when the season premiere of your favorite show is moments away from airing. Ordering a meal and then realizing you forgot your wallet at home is very annoying as well.

To a certain fox, the prospect of his mother coming to town so that she could meet his decidedly _non_ -vixen girlfriend was troublesome to say the least.

Nicholas Wilde paced the apartment living room back and forth, cycling through possible explanations when his mother finally does see the little bunny rabbit for the first time.

She wouldn’t dare be rude to Judy in person, but she knew as well as any fox that it is entirely atypical for anyone of his kind to get _that_ friendly with a rabbit. She’d definitely heard a lot about the bunny from her son, he had made sure of that, but he had never mentioned her in any romantic light. The day he told his mother he had found himself a mate he was sure to be strictly ambiguous regarding any telling features about the mammal.

Let us watch as this single act proceeds to bite him in the ass.

Nick’s ears shot up at the sound of a knock at the door, only lowering as he heard keys being fumbled with and the door being unlocked.

Judy leaned against the door frame, half of her body hidden behind the wall.

“Hey slick.”

He smiled at her.

“You’ve got company.” she continued.

The little pitter patter of a familiar pair of rabbit feat resounded through the apartment block hallway.

“Nick!” A bunny rabbit cried as he rushed through the open door, his ears flopping behind him.

Nick knelt down to accept the bun-bun in his arms.

“Joey! How’ve ya been kiddo?”

“ _Oh. My. Goodness_! Things have been so great! We’re on winter break and we get to just spend all our time on the farm! And last week, pa took Claire and I to a car race in the burrows and Claire was _so_ happy she nearly cried!”

“She’s still into race cars hmm?” Nick chuckled, nodding as the little rabbit continued to explain the events of the past several months to him in a hurry.

“Now slow down bud-“Nick began, only to be cut off by Joey’s next excited outburst.

“And you wouldn’t believe what-“the little rabbit paused.

Heavy footsteps came rumbling through outside the door.

“Oh no…” Joey groaned.

A chubby bunny came hurtling through the doorway, pulling his pants up as he ran. Reaching the fox, he grabbed the rabbit currently being held and yanked him from the hug, tossing him aside without a care.

“Hi Nick!” the little bruiser said cheerfully, his arms spread wide for a hug of his own.

Nick sighed and shook his head – if only because there wasn’t much else that could be done – and took the kit in his arms.

“It’s nice to see you Charlie.” He said before letting the bun go and placing a paw on his shoulder, “but can’t you be a bit gentler with your brother?”

“What do you mean? I just _moved_ him.”

Judy rolled her eyes but held onto her smile, still leaning against the door frame.

“Well, we’re gonna move him with our words from now on, _capiche_?”

“I…” the rabbit began, a confused look on his face, “don’t see how that could work.”

“Believe me bud, a few well-placed words can get you far in life.” Nick explained with a wink.

Next, steps so light you might miss them if you weren’t quite enough came from the hallway.

“Mr. Nick! It really is you!” the owner of the footsteps cried, standing in the doorway.

“Claire! C’mon over baby!” the fox cried. Charlie took a step aside, letting his sister jump into the vulpine’s arms.

“Still wearing the onesie I see?” Nick said with a chuckle, noting the soft fabric of the soft pink pajamas as he held her close.

“Uh huh.” Claire replied, gazing up at him with a look of adoration.

“Well, it suits you just as well as it did last time I saw you.”

She smiled, letting the fox go.

Nick stood up and took a look around the room.

“Rabbits are starting to take this place over, it seems…” he began, still looking around, “but if my memory serves me, we’re missing a little guy.”

Another pair of rabbit feet made their way down the hall, this time with a plodding pace.

Nick grinned, the type of grin you make with both your eyes and your mouth.

Their owner turned the corner.

A pint sized rabbit with pudgy cheeks stood next to Judy, his paws on his hips.

“ _Fuch.”_ the rabbit said, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the fox.

“ _Edmund_.” Nick said with a gracious bow.

The two stood there, locked in place. They waited for the other to make the first move.

Edmund burst into a silly giggle and ran towards the fox, leaping up into his arms. Nick accepted him, spinning around as he held the bunny.

“And how are you?” the fox asked, touching their snouts together. The tyke simply replied by sticking his tongue out and licking his vulpine’s nose.

Nick turned to Judy, still holding the kit. “How’s speech therapy going for this one?”

“From what I heard, it’s a struggle. He keeps scaring the therapists off.” She replied, smiling with her eyes half-lidded.

“What? What’s so scary about this guy?” Nick asked, kissing Edmund’s forehead, who made his disapproval known immediately with a firm shove to the fox’s muzzle.

“Well, for starters, he’s a big meanie.”

“Are you being mean to the therapists? Nick questioned, pressing his forehead against the bunny’s.

Edmund tried to hold a straight face.

“ _Don’t be naughty now.”_

The tyke couldn’t hold the laughter in any longer, nearly bursting into tears.

Nick smiled and pressed the kits head into the crook of his neck.

Then he sniffed.

“What’s this?”

He sniffed the bunny some more.

“You smell _nice!_ ”

Edmund leaned back, still held tightly by the fox.

“Dun’t snuff fuch, _dunt_!” he cried, landing a cushiony punch onto the fox’s delicate nose.

“Don’t sniff? But you smell so good…” Nick began, sniffing some more. “Almost like blueberries, and _… gingerbread?_ ”

He looked over at his mate, who had finally stepped from the door frame. She held a white paper bag tight in her paws.

“It was supposed to be a surprise, but Edmund couldn’t wait to eat his and got it all over his face.” She said, giving the bunny in her fox’s arms an almost sour look.

Nick gladly accepted the bag of treats.

“We stopped by the bakery on our way over, Joey thought you might like som-“

“Nick?” Charlie’s voice called, prompting the fox to look down to find him.

“What’s up pal?”

“Why isn’t your house decorated for Christmas?”

“Oh, well… We don’t-“

“That’s what we’re going to do next! I need your help to get the apartment ready in time for Ma and Pa’s arrival, so we should head out shopping ASAP!” Judy explained.

“Wait, _what_ are we doing next?” Nick asked, worried.

“We’re going shopping!”


	2. Let's Ask for Peace and Love for Today

“Judy? What’s a strip mall?” Claire asked the rabbit holding her paw as the group passed by the outdoor welcome sign.

_The Gardens_

“Well, it’s sorta like the market place back home. The only real difference is that we have larger shops to look through.” The older sister explained.

“ _Hmm_.” Claire hummed.

“We should get the same decorations Ma uses, so when they come over they’ll feel right at home!” Charlie piped up.

“Hey, Edmund? Where ya going buddy?” Nick asked, watching the tyke trail off from the rest of the group.

Snow caked the sides of the road, billowing up above the kit’s heads into fluffy mounds of white.

Fluffy mounds of white which little bunnies such as Edmund had a difficult time avoiding. The bun crawled up atop the nearest mound and hopped, giggling as the snow crunched underfoot each and every time he landed. He turned around to look at the rest of the group, who watched as he leaped and laughed. He hopped again, extra high this time, and when he came down, he vanished into the snow pile, much to the amusement of his siblings.

Nick sighed, rolled his eyes and ambled over to dig him out.

…                   

Walking into the first décor store, Edmund shook the last bits of snow out of his floppy ears, slinging it onto the ground as he walked in. The tapir shop clerk gave him a dirty look, so the tyke gave him a dirtier one right back. The lights of the rooms were awfully bright, reflecting off of the pristine white walls and giving the store an almost gold feeling. Aside from being awfully pretty to look at, the lighting showed off the rich colors of the Christmas decorations sitting snug on every shelf. Welcome mats with silly phrases about there being “No place like home” and faux-velvet pillows adorned the aisles.

“So, what exactly are we looking for?” Nick asked, pulling a wax figurine in the likeness of a little angel off the shelf so as to take a closer look.

“I’m looking for tinsel, and a lot of it.” Judy explained, peering down each aisle they passed.

“And tree ornaments!” Claire chipped in.

“Yeah, don’t forget the tree ornaments!” Charlie added.

“Charlie, don’t copy me!”

Nick let the kits fight, continuing down the aisles at his leisure. Tinsel and ornaments, tinsel and ornaments… You’d think something as shiny as either of those two items would stand out immediately.

Tinsel and ornaments, tinsel and ornaments…

Tinsel and-

_Hey._

_Wait a second._

“Judy?” he called out to her.

The doe and her four siblings turned to meet the fox, putting down the decorations they had been looking at.

“Why do we need tree ornaments?”

“To decorate the tree.” The littlest sister clarified.

“ _We don’t have a tree_.”

Judy’s eyes widened slightly before returning to their normal size. She nodded, understanding the pickle they’re in.

“Why don’t we just buy one?” Joey suggested.

Everyone thought on it for a moment.

“Yeah, we’ll just pick a tree up today.” Judy concurred, continuing her search.

“Well, we ought to go soon. We don’t want them selling out before we get there.” Nick said, disgruntled.

“Calm down slick, we’ll get around to it.”

Pacified, he watched as his mate and her siblings made their way back down the aisles, simultaneously regretting his decision to not buy one of Finnick’s shady – in the worst possible sense of the word – trees.

…

“And that’s where the phrase ‘Every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings’ comes from.” Nick explained, holding the door to the garden center open. The kits oohed and aahed at his commentary on classic holiday film quotes, following him into the shop.

“Can we watch that movie tonight?” Claire piped up.

“I would have loved to,” Judy began, teeth gritted, “If Nick hadn’t finished spoiling some of the best parts just now.”

“C’mon carrots. It’s the spirit of the film that really touches the soul, not the plot.”

The group ceased their banter to take a look around as they walked further into the garden store. You don’t see this much greenery in the city very often. An escalator sat in the middle of the gargantuan, green shop, offering to take its patrons up to the second and third levels should they so desire. A fine mist permeated the air to keep the plants nice and fresh, and the lingering scent of flowers tickled their noses.

“So, what are we here for, carrots?” Nick asked.

Judy shook the star struck look off her face and reached for the folded list in her pocket.

“Garland.”

“Uh huh.”

“A wreath, I guess?”

“Mhm…” the fox hummed.

“Uh, pinecones would be nice.”

“Pine cones smell good!” Joey added.

“And a bouquet of poinsettias for the table. That’s how Ma used to do it.”

“All right, sounds simple enough.”

They split off into two groups, scouring the store for each of the items on the list. Joey spotted a pretty garland wrap composed of soft green magnolia leafs; a wonderful find. Equally impressive was the wreath Charlie noticed on the second floor. Pretty pinked bows had found themselves woven amidst all the flowers that adorned hoop, creating a piece worthy of being pinned to even the most prestigious of doors.

The group reconvened on the first floor.

“So, what else do we need?”

“Pinecones and poinsettias.” Judy explained, looking down at her list again.

“What’s a poinsettia?” Joey asked, tugging at Judy’s shirt.

“You remember those neat little pink flowers Ma sets out on the kitchen table before Christmas dinner, right?”

The kits nodded.

“Those are poinsettias.”

The kits broke out into oohs and aahs again.

“I remember seeing a stand over there-“Claire began, standing on her tippy toes to point over the rose display case and too the back of the store, “-that said they had fresh ones!”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Judy exclaimed, gathering up the children and running off to investigate.

All the children aside from Edmund.

“Rabbits, I swear.” Nick chuckled, watching his doe head to the back of the store in a hurry, “I don’t think I’ll ever understand their obsession with flowers, you know what I’m saying little dude?”

He looked down at his side, Edmund having disappeared without warning.

“Little dude?”

He spun around enough times to make himself dizzy. Where could that child have scampered off to now? Nick scanned the shop for him again, and where he found the fuzzy bunny made his fur stand on end.

The tyke had crawled up the side of the escalator, and now dangled precariously at the top.

Nick jumped to attention, but aside from that was absolutely clueless about what to do. He’d never be able to make it up there before the little bunny let go. The only reasonable course of action was to…

He scrambled over to the bottom of the escalator, reaching it just in time to catch the rabbit as he inevitably let go. Edmund plopped gingerly into his arms, seemingly unfazed by his near death experience.

“Ok… You’re ok… I’m ok…” Nick panted as he smoothed the rabbits ears back against his head, “We’re ok.”

“Are we interrupting something?” Judy asked, her little off-group finally returning.

“Back already?” Nick gasped out, still recovering from his heart attack.

Judy raised an eyebrow but dismissed his behavior as just Nick being Nick.

“Um, yeah. We got a great deal on Pinecones as well, so we can head out now.”

“Sweet, sweet.” Nick replied, placing Edmund back on the floor. “So, where to?”

…

As his siblings and caretakers gathered at the front entrance so as to leave the garden center, Edmund stole off to the second floor of the store again, this time riding the escalator like a proper mammal (He didn’t get many things right the first time, but god save the creature who insinuates he can’t accomplish whatever he sets his mind to). He approached the counter and was greeted by the cashier.

“What can I get for ya, my young sir?” The rhino started, “We’ve got candy-“

Edmund motioned for the cashier to be quiet with a swipe of his paw. He pointed at the mistletoe sat atop the desk.

“This?” the rhino asked, incredulous.

Edmund nodded.

“Thirteen ninety-five.”

Edmund crossed his arms and stared at the much larger mammal, obviously displeased with the price quoted.

The cashier huffed, “nine fifty.”

The little rabbit held his stare.

Groaning, the rhino tore a sprig of mistletoe from the rest of the plant, dropping it into the bunnies waiting paws. Edmund took off, pocketing his new found treasure before joining his family again.

…

Edmund walked between his sister and that fox guy she likes so much, holding their paws as they strolled along the sidewalk. Occasionally, he would lift his feet up off the ground and swing – you know, the thing we would all do back when we were kits his age – relying on the two adults to prevent him from falling bum-first on the cold side walk. His trust wasn’t misplaced, as Judy made certain to look over at Nick every so often, reminding him that he should, indeed, _not_ let the little rabbit fall.

Regardless of how funny that might be.

 As they walked, Claire and her other two brothers took to admiring the many snow mammals now standing throughout the streets, giving their own impressions of what each of them might sound like should they spring to life and start frolicking around the strip mall.

“Shaping up to be a neat little Christmas, ain’t it?” Nick asked his mate, Edmund still swinging like a pendulum between the two of them.

“One of the best, oddly enough.” Judy said through a warm smile, “Wonder why that is?”

Nick scoffed and waved his paw in the air dismissively. “You’re only spending it with the most dashing fox in the city.”

Judy thought for a moment, pressing a finger to her pursed lips.

“You know what, maybe-“

“Is Santa Claus!” Edmund shouted, pointing eagerly out in front of them.

“ _Who?_ ” the remaining fluffle plus one fox asked in unison.

In the center of the mall plaza stood a bright attraction. Presents piled up in a circle ‘round a tree which managed to be modest in height alone (the workers had to put the thing away after the holidays mind you) by sticking out like a crimson-bushed sore thumb. It was a fake tree, nobody would argue with you on that fact. The leaves of the tree were a flashy red which undoubtedly caught eyes. All the better for it to be fake and odor free, as in front of the tree sat one jolly red fox in a cushy purple chair.

“Well would you look at _that_.” Nick said with a smile that managed to walk the fine line between kindly and smug, “ _It’s Shanta Claws_.”

The kits didn’t spare a moment in dashing away from their parental-figures for the evening, nearly tripping over themselves in an effort to meet the saint with the snowy white beard.

“Are you _sure_ the real you’re Shanta Claws?” Charlie asked as he and his siblings crowded around the well-known gift giver.

“Well ah-“Mr. Claws began.

“Of course he is _silly_ , look how fat he is!” Claire explained excitedly.

“ _Hey!_ ” the newly confirmed real Shanta Claws cried.

“ _Yeah,_ show some respect Charlie!” Joey said.

“Yuh!” Edmund chirped.

“Are the little ones causing you any problems Mr. Claws?” Judy asked warmly, walking up to the kindly mammal and four less-than-kind kits.

“Ah shucks, these kids?” The Claws began, taking a moment to look at Charlie before starting again, “Not at all. Ah was just about ta ask ‘em what they’re expecting in their stockings tomorrow morn-“

He paused, as the doe had taken to staring.

That accent, that face; No amount of beard could cover this fellow up.

“Hey, don’t I know you from somewhere?” Judy asked with a smile.

Nick looked down at her, raising an eyebrow.

Shanta gave a panicked look, motioning for her to cut it out as her siblings looked back at her.

“Uh… nope.” He replied, the kits turning back to him.

“Oh, I must be mistaken.” The doe said, choking back a giggle.

“Jeez Judy, how could you possibly know him.” Claire scoffed.

“Yeah, he’s the most important mammal in the _whole wide world_.” Joey added.

Judy gasped, taken aback by their comments.

“Well, what does that make me then!?” Judy cried, looking between the kits and the Claws.

“Relax fluff, ‘most important mammal’ is a point of view I think.” Nick assured her with a nudge and a wink.

“Now kids, ya sister is a smart bunny. She did take ya to see me after all…” Shanta added to the conversation.

“Well, we sorta just stumbled upon you, but that’s neither here nor there.” Nick mumbled.

“So since ya’ll are here; why don’t ya hop up on ma lap and tell me-“

 “Ok, me first!” Joey interjected, climbing the red mountain of a mammal before him.

“Alright.” Joey said, making himself comfortable, “Now this is going to sound crazy.”

He paused.

“Wait, maybe it’s too crazy.”

“Nah nah, go on now kiddo.” The chubby red fox coaxed.

“ _Ok, ok, ok!_ ” Joey said, giggling hysterically. “This is my first time spending the night over in the big city-” The rest of the group continued listening intently, “- and the best Christmas present ever would be a full tour _the Zootopia Police Department!_ ”

Mr. Claws looked over at Judy who wore a conflicted look on her face. She looked up at her mate, who seemed equally unsure. Chief Bogo wasn’t particularly keen on giving little kits full tours. Such a tour would entail a walk through every lab and holding facility the building had to offer, and having a child running amok might be too big of a liability.

“You see, Shanta, I want to be a ZPD Officer when I grow up, just like my Nick!”

Judy rolled her eyes, ignored again.

“Well, Shanta will see what he can do for ya.” The wise, white-bearded fox concluded, patting the little bunny on the head.

“Ok Joey, _Ok Joey_.” Charlie repeated, growing a little impatient. “It’s _my_ turn now.” He explained before gritting his teeth, “ _Get off_.”

The eldest brother grumbled something inaudibly before hopping off the Claws’ lap, his long ears nearly waving out behind him as he landed. Charlie began the climb up Shanta, but needed a little assistance from Nick to reach the top.

“Alright son,” the saint said, patting the little bruiser wearily, “What’ll it be?”

“I want a dry erase board.”

The Claws squinted, leaning in a little. He wasn’t sure if he heard that correctly.

“Uh, what was that?”

“I want a dry erase board for Christmas.”

“Ah, uh… um-“

“C’mon Santa! I’ve been an extra good boy this year-“

Judy had to elbow Nick in the ribs to prevent a snide chuckle.

“-and I’m gonna be even more gooder next year. _Please_.”

Shanta bumbled through his words some more before catching his tongue again.

“Nah, I know, I know. Ah just didn’t take you for the type of kit to want that sorta thang.”

Charlie grimaced at the old saint. “What’s that supposed to mean.”

Shanta went back to fumbling over his words.

“I tutor my siblings in math back on the farm. I’m gonna be a teacher someday, and every teacher needs a white board, right?”

“Teacher?” Shanta asked, incredulous.

“Of course! It makes a heck of a lot more sense than _ZPD Officer_.”

“Hey!” came the collective cry from Joey, Judy and Nick.

“No offense.”

“Well alright then. Ah do believe ah can do that.” Shanta assured, looking over at Nick and Judy, whom simply nodded. “Yes, ah do believe ah can.”

“But it has to come with like, _three_ markers, ok?”

Shanta Claws chuckled, full of Christmas mirth.

“And a _big_ _eraser_ , got it?”

“ _Got it._ ”

Satisfied, Charlie leaped from the Claws’ lap and onto the floor below, allowing his sister to crawl up and take her place on the jolly ol’ fox’s lap.

“Hi Shanta.” Claire whispered, wrapping her arms around the big guy’s neck.

“Hey there darlin.” He replied, reciprocating the hug. “Ah like your onesie, it looks awfully warm.”

“Thank you Shanta.” She replied bashfully.

“So what can ah be getten ya this Christmas?”

The kit took a moment to reply, almost as though she was too embarrassed to say.

“Go on now.” He said with a smile.

“Well…” she began.

Everyone leaned in, waiting for her next words.

“… I like race cars, you see?”

“Ah see.” He assured her.

“But Ma and Pa went and bought me just about everything I could have asked for.”

“Hmm…” the fox hummed.

“But there is one thing.”

“Ya?”

“Have you ever heard of Shirley Gayla?” she asked him.

“Well, ah do believe I have.” Shanta assured her, patting her back. “She’s only the best racer in all of bunny burrow!”

“I want to meet her.”

Shanta froze.

Goat lord, can’t any of these kids ask for something normal, like a bike or something?

“But hun, Mrs. Gayla is…”

“What?”

He searched the air for an excuse.

“She’s a Hippopotamus, she could eat you up in one bite!”

Claire broke out into a fit of laughter.

“Mammals don’t eat each other silly! Besides, my teacher said Hippos are vegetarians, so I don’t see why it should matter.”

The Jolly old saint – though his jolliness was beginning to wane – wiped his brow.

“Alright, Ah’ll see what ah can do for ya.”

“Thanks Shanta!” Claire exclaimed, wrapping her arms around his neck again, “You’re the best.”

Strange requests or not, she was a sweet kid. He smiled as she climbed down from his lap before turning his attention to the littlest one of the bunch.

“And what about you, little guy?”

“Meh?” the little bun asked, looking to either side of himself.

“Yeah you, ya goofball” Judy assured him, helping him up onto Shanta’s lap.

“Ah wan uh oole oop.” he explained, taking his seat.

.

.

.

“A what?”

The rabbit siblings – including Judy – looked amongst themselves. Somehow, they were all stumped with this one. Never had they ever encountered an Edmund sentence they were unable to translate, but this was giving them a run for their money.

Shanta looked their way anxiously, and seeing he wasn’t going to be getting any support any time soon, he spoke up again.

“Sorry kiddo, can ya repeat that?”

“Ah wan uh oole oop.”

.

.

.

“Right…”

Edmund stood up on the lap beneath him, taking the fox’s chubby cheeks in his paws.

“Oole Oop.” He enunciated.

“Golly- Um, well…” Shanta began, unsure of what to say. “Ya asked it, so it shall be done!”

As the kits finished up their meeting with Shanta Claws – Judy was sure to take a photo to show her folks later – Nick stood on the sidewalk, fumbling with his phone. It wasn’t easy to type on a touch screen with wool mittens on.

_Hula Hoop_

He marked it in his notes, right under ZPD visit, dry erase board and Shirley Gayla.

…

If one were to look up at the sky that evening, they’d be immediately convinced that some cosmic writer had gone and spilt his inkwell in the atmosphere. A thick winter’s blackness coated the heavenly above so earnestly that you’d have no choice but to worry that even the sun itself couldn’t peel it all off come morning. Looking back down, however, the same person would find that a cosmic artist – no doubt a friend of the writer’s – had, in their rush to help clean up the ink spill, dropped their paint palette to the earth below. Verdant greens and milky lavenders and blues so cool your spine chilled just looking at them filled the strip mall grounds as the owners of various shops turned powered their nighttime Christmas lights on.

To put it in the simplest terms possible: the kits absolutely enamored in every way, shape or form possible.

Joey stared in a confused state of shock at the blue lit icicles which hung from every willow tree planted in the plaza. They flickered in a descending pattern as if the bulbs themselves had been dripping onto the floor, and if they really had been, they may have never have torn him away from the scene.

Nick lifted Charlie up onto his shoulders (with great effort, mind you), so that the chubby rabbit could watch as the toy train passed by on tracks lain up ahead. The locomotive itself was spackled with lights ranging from colors you’d expect to find on the sea floor to a yellow so pure it looked as though a royal might wear it in place of their golden crown.

Claire’s pink sleeves darkened slightly as she wiped the tears from her eyes again. Fitted to the side of the highest building in all of the mall were lights which shone like precious amethyst in a pattern obviously meant to be a snowflake. As high up as it were, it looked absolutely massive, and it projected itself down onto each and every mammal which walked the streets below.

Edmund explained in his shaky speech that he had seen better (although he truly had not).

As they walked, they made faces at the reflections which stared back at them every time they passed a store, their heads haloed and crowned by the toasty, flaxen indoor lighting.

As Judy bought the Christmas linens at a nearby clothier stand, flakes of white fluff started their slow descent to ground, slowly building up in numbers until a good snow began brewing.

Nick bought them all popcorn and they took a seat on the curb.

Taking the moment’s rest as the opportunity she had been waiting for all day, Judy leaned against her fox, rubbing her face against his coat, which he gently opened for her to join him in. She turned to her right to see the kits still discussing what the prettiest sight to see was, and melted into him a little more.

“It’s not bad.” Nick whispered to her.

“Mmm?” she cooed back.

“This whole family thing.”

“ _Mmm_.”

They sat still for a little while longer, ebbing with the sharp night air. Despite the kits’ continued clamoring, they’d found a moment of silence inside the fox’s soft coat.

Judy had a particular scent about her, one that hit you all at once when you pressed your nose to her neck and breathed in. It was soft, if that made sense.

Nick had a particular scent about him, one that tickled your nostrils a little before over whelming you. There was something sharp about it.

“You know whiskers, all this green stuff is really gonna stink the apartment up.”

“It’s only for a day.” She mumbled into his chest.

“Exactly, why bother buying all of this stuff if we’re only going to use it for a single day out of the year.”

Judy sniffed before nuzzling into him a little more. “We’ll have it for next year.”

_Next year?_

Before he could worry about the future, the bunny rabbit at his side weaved an arm through his jacket and up his body. She carefully caressed the nape of his neck, lulling him into a soft purr.

“ _Wait!_ ” Charlie shouted, leaping up from his spot on the curb.

Judy’s eyes shot open as she sprung up from her own seat.

Sending the top of her head crashing into the fox’s lower jaw.

“Sorry! Sorry…” she grumbled, examining the spot she head butted with both paws. “Charlie, _what is going on?_ ”

“We don’t have a tree!” the kit shouted, spreading his arms out wide. The rest of his siblings exchanged worried glances.

“If we don’t have a tree, Shanta Claws wont. show. up.” The chubby bunny stomped his foot between each word for emphasis, “that’s the rule!”

“We passed the mill a little while ago, can’t be more than two minutes away.” Judy said, helping Nick off the curb.

He rubbed his jaw before speaking.

“Let’s head on over then.” He took a brief pause, mouth still aching. “They couldn’t have possibly sold out yet.”

…

“What do you mean you’ve sold out!?” Nick screeched in a voice a few decibels too loud for public spaces.

The badger working the tree mill ran a paw down his long face as he listened to the fox complain.

“Sir, if you were in need of a tree, why hadn’t you come earlier?”

“I-“Nick yanked on his own ears in frustration, “I don’t know!”

“Well, that is hardly my problem. Have a good day.”

…

“So I guess no tree, huh?” Charlie asked, disappointed. He took his seat next to the rest of the family on the first bench they happened upon after leaving the tree store.

Nick let out a heavy groan, resting his head in his own lap.

“What’s up foxy?” Judy asked, turning to her partner.

“It’s just-“he mumbled.

The rest of the group watched him. Joey raised an eyebrow.

_“Is he ok?”_ Claire whispered.

“I- I…“he stuttered again.

“sput out!” Edmund demanded.

And with that, every ounce of resistance left his body. His shoulders limped in resignation.

“I think I know a guy. Just head on home. I’ll be there in a few.”

The bunnies looked amongst one another, confused.

…

“So, let me get this straight.” The fennec began, drinking in the comedy of the situation. He laughed. “She brought her siblings over, and _they_ want a tree?”

Nick rolled his eyes as his former partner babbled on.

“So you come crawling back to me?” the dusty fox continued, nearly falling out of his lawn chair as he cackled violently.

“I’m _not_ crawling.”

The fennec shot up from his lounging position.

“You know what, you aren’t.”

.

.

.

“But you should.”

.

.

.

“What?”

“How much do you want that tree?”

.

.

.

Sighing, Nick got down on all fours before speaking again. “O’ great and merciful Finnick, won’t you please sell me one of your overpriced trees?”

Curiously, it didn’t seem as though his heart was truly in the performance.

The smaller fox couldn’t care less, however, and had already broken out into another fit of laughter.

“Alright, alright. Sure man. You can’t keep the kits waiting, can ya?”

Nick stood back up, dusting his paws off on his coat.

“Right, _we_ can’t keep the kits waiting.” He said through gritted teeth.

The fennec paused.

“ _We?_ ”

“Well, I can’t very well take this tree all the way home without your van, now can I?” Nick explained, crossing his arms.

“Wait, this isn’t part of the deal Nic-“

“I crawled, _Finnick_.”

“But-“

“It’s _Christmas_.”

“Nick!”

“We’d better get going, I have a few other errands I’m gonna need you to run with me.” The taller fox explained, thumbing through his phone.

“What!?”

“Get the wrapping paper off of the van and let’s go.”

“ _Nick._ ”

“ _Finnick_.”

…

His heart didn’t grow two sizes that night, nor did his shoes fit him any better – in fact, he didn’t wear any shoes – and his head wasn’t screwed on any more right or anymore wrong then it had been at the beginning of the day. He only nodded begrudgingly, agreeing to take Nick wherever he wanted to go.

…

A familiar rhythm played out on Judy Hopps’ apartment door in quick taps before the door itself swung open, revealing a red fox, a tree and a slightly smaller fox.

“ _Cavalries arrived_.” Nick said with a deep bow and a flourish before setting the tree down in the corner of the room. It wasn’t until Nick got a real good look at the place did he drop the hero act.

Nick and Finnick now stood in the middle of the apartment, awestruck. The kitchen table was set with Judy’s nicest silverware and decked with the linens she had bought at the mall. On the floor sat the Christmas ornaments, opened and ready for placing upon whatever tree the fox happened upon. Nick turned around to see the wreath Charlie had picked out placed neatly on the inside of the door. The smell of the poinsettias mixed with the other green scents forming something that smelled oddly like…

Christmas?

In the middle of it all stood a fluffle of bunnies, the tallest one with her paws on the youngest ones shoulders.

Finnick couldn’t form words.

“You guys like it?” Judy asked.

Nick simply nodded.

“Bab fuch!? _Whut!?_ ”

The fennec shook his head, dismissing the holiday haze that almost took him over. He turned to the little bunny rabbit now addressing him. “ _What_?” he replied, baring his teeth, “ _What did you just say to me_?” he went on, rolling his sleeves up as he continued.

The tyke, who had previously been star struck, was now walking towards the tiny fox with equal indignation.

“He’s just impressed to have found a baby fox is all. Can you really blame him, Fin?” Nick asked as he leaned against the kitchen table, careful to not upset the well placed decorations.

The doorbell rang. Nick and Judy exchanged glances, silently agreeing that Judy would stop Edmund and Finnick from pummeling each other and Nick would embark on the less threatening and yet equally important task of opening the front door.

As he let the door swing open gently, he was greeted by the kindly faces of two worn out carrot farmers.

“Mom! Dad!” Judy exclaimed, beckoning them inside.

“Ma, pa!” the rest of the fluffle echoed, following Judy to greet them properly, ignoring the still fuming fennec fox.

“It’s great to see you Mrs. And Mr. Hopps.” Nick said warmly as they walked further into the room.

“Likewise son.” Stu affirmed, removing his farmers cap.

“I love what you’ve done to the place kids! It feels just like home.” Bonnie tittered, looking around the room.

“Oh, well you have Judy and the kits to thank for that, I-“

The doorbell rang.

“Ah, I’ll get it!” Judy exclaimed excitedly before walking over to the door, “You guys should catch up.”

“So, how has the winter season been treating you guys down at the farm?” Nick asked, straightening his back out.

“Oh, as well as one can be expected.” Stu said with a chuckle. “Are things going well for you two out here? I’d imagine it would be pretty cold walking the beat during this time of year.”

“Do you kids need blankets?” Bonnie asked.

Nick smiled at the offer but waved his paw dismissively, “No, we have all the blankets we need. A cop’s salary isn’t _that_ bad.”

The group fell into another laughing fit.

“Nick?”

The fox’s ear flickered at the sound of the familiar voice, and when he turned, his heartbeat stopped for a good second.

Or two.

“Mom, _hey!_ ”

The vixen standing in the doorway smiled politely, but wore a bewildered look.

.

.

.

“It’s… good to see you!” she said, looking around at the bunnies littering the room. “You… have guests!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next one shouldn’t take as long to publish as this one did, and I’m truly sorry about the delay. I haven’t been feeling very well these past few days, with my head too cloudy to think properly at best and pounding as though someone had struck me with a bat at worst. To make matters more complex, I’m not in the happiest of places right now, which doesn’t really gel well with writing a Christmas themed story. It was supposed to be my gift to you all for the holiday season, but looking at the calendar, I don’t think it’s going to wrap up this year.
> 
> Super sorry about all of this, guys.
> 
> Regardless, I hope you all had happy holidays, and if you don’t celebrate them I hope you had a fantastic weekend. Also, do drop me a review if you find the time. They may not seem like much, but they certainly make this whole publishing thing worth the process, regardless of whether they are meant to praise or to critique the work.
> 
> And now I thank you all for your wonderful support. It’s been an absolute blast interacting with each and every one of you through private messages or down in the comments (depending on which site you read this on). It’s nice to find other like-minded people whom share my passions.
> 
> That being wildehopps.
> 
> I’ll see you all early 2017.


	3. All We Can Give

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, hey, what’s up?

Neither Edmund, Joey nor Charlie could help finding the vixen stood in the middle of the room awfully beautiful in spite of her age – though Claire would later claim that, in the moment, she didn’t find the women either gorgeous nor notably ugly. All she’d really taken note of was the fact that the look on the old fox’s face when she noticed the rabbits, while not particularly mean in any way, was far from pleasant.

“It really is so good to finally meet you, Mrs. Wilde,” Judy said, wearing the dopey, overly pleasant grin she always wore when trying to get on a mammal’s good side. “Nick’s told me a lot about you.”

The vixen stole a glance at her son before looking back at the rabbit. “Has he now?” she said, returning the doe’s smile. “ _Oh!”_ She breathed out, almost as though a sudden realization lifted an immense weight off her shoulders, “You’re his partner, aren’t you?”

The bunny rabbit’s grin grew as though she had been tickled on the pads of her feet paws, just as Nick – her boyfriend, her partner – had often done. “Yes! Yes, I am!”

“- in fighting crime.” Mrs. Wilde finished.

Nick cringed as the wind seemed to dissipate from his mate’s sails, leaving disappointed rags that hung just slightly more limp then her shoulders.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Ma’am?” Joey’s voice piped up as he tugged at the vixen’s long black skirt. “Would you like some apple cider?” he offered, holding up the glass.

With a pleased smile and a pat on the bunny’s head; Mrs. Wilde took the drink from his paws and held it gingerly. “Why, aren’t you all just the most polite bunch?”

Edmund and Finnick exchanged looks of scorn, both faces matching the other’s (with their eyebrows titled at the most unfortunate angle and their lips pursed in a way which, while they were supposed to look quite mad, truthfully seemed to be on the verge of a pout).

Mrs. Wilde lifted the glass to her muzzle and sniffed. The cider was curiously divine, that much was apparent within the first whiff of it. The drink, while entirely unassuming in the cute little novelty glass adorned with carrots, hid within itself an aroma that easily outdid any apple scented perfume you might find at a bath shop here in Zootopia. She took a moment before drinking, mulling over the likelihood of it being half as good as the smell suggested, but took a sip all the same – and she was amazed! The cider slid down her throat with the same eagerness as she drank it with. There was a certain pureness about the drink that you wouldn’t have ever expected.

On the dining table sat several more cups, all made by Judy and the kits in preparation for Nick’s coming home. On the kitchen counter sat the cider keg, wooden and brown. The kits had brought it down from the farm when they first arrived and any bunny from back home could tell you that it was the finest batch they’d whipped all year.

Though Mrs. Wilde knew nothing of the sort, so there’s probably not much point in rambling on about it now.

“Mom!” Nick called.

“Yes! _Hm_?” she mumbled, climbing out of a sweet, sweet, cider-induced trance.

“I was asking what we did to deserve the early visit. We weren’t expecting you until tomorrow.”

“Oh.” She said, lowering her glass, “I’d only wanted to meet this girl you’ve been blubbering on and on about for the last few months is all!”

Nick clutched his chest. “B- Blubbering!? _Me_!?” he asked, feeling faint.

The insides of Judy’s ears turned a sweet shade of pink and the doe found she only had a second to bite her tongue if she wanted to stave off an even sweeter smile. Instead, Bonnie gave _her_ husband the sweet smile, which he happily returned; both of them reveling in the fact that the fox apparently rambles on about Judy to his parent as much as she rambles on about him to hers.

Finnick simply joined the kits in a fit of cackling, much to Nick’s own un-amusement.

“I have never _blubbered_.” Nick said.

“Honey, you’ve gushed!” his mother replied, sending herself and the kits – plus one tiny fennec fox – into another storm of laughter. “Oh…” she whimpered through a few more chuckles, wiping a tear from her eye, “where is she anyhow?”

Nick bit the inside of his cheek and smiled a lopsided smile, almost as though he was about to tell a funny joke of his own. “You know what?” he asked, walking over to Judy so as to put his paws on her shoulders, “As a matter of fact, she’s right here. Mom, I would love for you to meet Judy Hopps, my mate.”

.

.

.

The look on old Mrs. Wilde’s face was an awe-inspiring one, and I only wish you’d have been there to see it. Her muzzle hung open, slack-jawed, and her right eye seemed to, in that very moment, develop the most persistent twitch. Really, she tried to stop it – tried to tug and smush her baffled face into a presentable look, but it just wouldn’t budge. Her ears rotated, curious as to whether or not she quite heard that right.

Judy tilted her head upwards so as to get a better look at the fox stood behind her, his paws still firmly wrapped around her shoulders. He looked down at her so that their muzzles very nearly touched and they rubbed their noses together.

Nick didn’t usually support this type of behavior done in public, but had they not shown at least a little love, his mother may have never believed him.

But she certainly had to believe him now – booping snoots is undeniable courting behavior in zootopia, as I’m certain you’re already aware – and judging by the look on her face, she had something to say about it. Try as she might, though, the words tangled themselves together as they rose up in her throat and when she untangled them all that bounced off the tip of her long fox tongue was:

“Wow… _good.”_

.

.

.

“Man oh man, it sure is going to be crowded here tonight.” Finnick offered the party goers, sticking his paws in his pockets and looking up at the ceiling in a search for nothing in particular.

“Mhm, Mhm.” The rest of the party chorused, everyone looking off in different directions so that they too could find nothing of any importance. Mrs. Wilde went back to nursing her cider.

.

.

.

“I can sleep in Judy’s bed if there isn’t enough room out here.” Claire peeped.

“Hey, I wanna sleep in Judy’s bed too.” Charlie echoed.

Joey - looking very excited -  scampered up to Nick, almost tripping over his own ears. “Then I call Nick’s bed.” Edmund toddled over to the fox and gripped his pant leg, which was really all that needed to be said.

The fox and the doe stared blankly at one another. “We…um…” Judy began, not sure how best to put this.

“We only have one bed.” Nick spoke for her.

The fox didn’t have to look in his mother’s direction to know she was now choking on her drink – the sounds were enough to base a serious guess off – and Judy’s parent’s ears turned the same sweet shade of pink their daughter’s had moments ago.

The kits – who saw nothing scandalous in this revelation at all – beamed.

“That’s perfect!” Joey exclaimed, recognizing the convenience of it all. This way, they could all share a bed, and it could be just like the old snuggly sleepovers he sometimes had with the other school bunnies.

Stu must have caught a bug of some sort, as he cleared his throat with a labored cough. “Well, would that be ok with you two?” he asked.

Judy looked to Nick, who gave her a gaze that seemed to say, “Carrots, _please_ don’t let them share our bed tonight.”

“Sure!” She said, turning to the kits, “You guys can share our bed tonight!”

_Figures._

“Well, there are pillows and blankets in the hallway closet. We’d better go off to sleep if we want Shanta Claws to visit us some time tonight.” Nick explained as he pointed down the aforementioned hallway.

Without another word, both kits and adults alike scampered off to get said blankets, as a Passover by father Christmas, I should think, would make for a very scary tomorrow morning.

Everyone except two.

“I’m serious man, the vans out front. I can give your guys’ family some space tonight.” The shorter of the foxes said.

“Finn, you _are_ my family.”

“Just saying man, I’ll do it.”

“You helped me out today, you aren’t sleeping outside.”

Finnick looked the taller fox over once, and then he looked him over twice. Shaking his head, he snorted a little.

“Well, merry Christmas then, ya big, dumb sap.”

The red fox simply gave his buddy a content smile, watching the little guy walk down the hall in search of blankets.

“ _Nicholas_.”

He nearly jumped out of his fur before he turned around, meeting his mother snout to snout. “Ma?”

“Is it wrong of me to be thoroughly confused right now?” she whispered, clutching her blankets and pillows tight to her chest.

Nick peered down the hallway at Judy, who raised an eyebrow. He gave her a weak wave hello.

“I don’t think it’s wrong, no, as long as you get over it quickly.” He turned back to his mother.

“But Nick, that’s a bunny!” she whispered, harsher than before.

A dreamy smile grew on the fox’s face. “That she is.”

“You know that prey don’t- “

“Mom, the past is in the past.” He said, leaning against the door frame.

“I just don’t want you getting hurt.”

“No one is getting hurt here, Ma.”

The vixen inhaled deeply before breathing out shakily. “Look, I’m sure they’re good mammals- “

“Then you’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“ _Mr. Nick, get in bed!_ ”

“Coming!” the fox shouted down the hall, “Just keep an open mind is all I’m sayin. I’ve gotta go now though, these kits can be a pain in the tail to put to sleep.” He gave her a quick peck on the cheek, “Goodnight Ma, it’s really good to see ya.”

The mother fox stood there no less flabbergasted than before, only lying down once Finnick flicked the lights to the living room off.

…

Nick climbed on the mattress pad and parted the sea of rabbits currently taking up his bed space. Orange limbs sprawled out at various angles, forcing the rabbits to mold to him the best they could. One would think this sleeping arrangement to be very disagreeable, but to a lazy red fox who had just finished moving mountains for Christmas, it was really quite comfortable.

Judy squirmed her way into the crook of one of his arms, which received her nicely. The fox smacked his gums and licked his chops. Joey tossed and turned in place, unable to find a cozy spot to settle into; that is until the fox’s free arm scooped him up and held him close. Claire tried to wedge herself in between the big old fox and Judy, but after the fast discovery that this wasn’t going to happen, happily curled herself around a red bushy tail. Charlie laid down upon the fox’s chest, which was almost immediately deemed a no-no as the vulpine had begun to feel asthmatic. Edmund crawled to the head of the predator and curled up there, not picking the spot for any comfort it might provide, but because he thought that maybe, after the fox had started snoozing, he’d be able to pull the beast’s lips back and get a closer look at those sharp, sharp teeth.

…

In the dead of night, Nick tried his dandiest to figure out what that strange taste in his mouse was as he roused Finnick with a hushed voice. They left the apartment, the only sound to suggest them moving around being the little “ _pat pat_ ” of their feet-paws upon the floor boards.

They quickly returned with wrapped gifts, dropping them by the tree before stealing off to bed again. To this day nobody knows where they got them; I figure Shanta Claws must’ve had a paw in it.

…

It was chilly in the living room so early in the morning. That was Nick’s first thought as he trudged out of the hallway and over to the fridge. He balled his paws into tight fists and rubbed his eyes.

“Since when did you _ever_ wake up this early in the morning?”

The voice had spoken to him from across the living room, and his eyes were still sore from the firm rubbing he had just given them. The room seemed to have a blue haze resting over it, nearly as cold as the air itself.

When his eyes adjusted, he noticed the vixen sitting up with her blanket wrapped around her shoulders. He smiled. “Believe me, I’m trying to avoid forming the habit of getting up at the crack of dawn.” He yawned. “If it wasn’t for those rabbits, I’d still be in bed.”

The she-fox seemed to frown, though it was sort of hard to tell with all the lights off. She looked over to the couch, where Mr. and Mrs. Hopps laid snoozing peacefully.

“You know as well as I do that this isn’t natural.”

Her son turned away and opened the fridge, hiding his grimace. “It feels pretty natural to me.”

“ _Nicholas”_

_“Ma?”_

The vixen sighed, breathing out through her nose. “They’re nothing like us. It would be for best if you just let them alone.”

“I’ve never known a vixen who was more like me than Judy.” The son explained, pulling the milk from the refrigerator and setting the coffee machine.

“You don’t have to find a vixen.” Mrs. Wilde said, rubbing her face with her paws before continuing in a whisper, “But you have to let prey be with prey and predator be with predator.”

He wanted to whisper something back, something as hurtful as what she had just whispered to him, but for one reason or another, he didn’t. Instead, he shook his head and laughed very softly, careful not to wake the other mammals who had the good sense to keep sleeping. “If there’s anything I’ve learned since meeting Judy, it’s that we prey and preds aren’t as different as you’d think. But let’s forget about all that. Can I get you anything before the kits open presents?”

At the mention of the word the vixen raised an eyebrow in confusion and immediately lost herself, forgetting where she was. “Presents?” she asked in a voice two times too loud.

Nick’s ears flattened against his head. Not a word was said, but the rumbling came all the same. Across the way – in his bedroom – you could be sure a fluffle of bunnies was crawling over itself in a frenzy to get into the living room.

The sound of ten rabbit feet – ten because Charlie led a half-asleep Judy by the paw – stumbling across the floorboards must’ve sounded like thunder to whoever lived on the floor below. Bonnie and Stu rose as if the storm of rabbit kits was something they had long been expecting, and even Finnick sat up (however begrudgingly).

Nick poured himself two cups of hot coffee, one in a mug slightly smaller than the other. In the smaller of the two he added a little milk before dropping half a spoon of sugar inside and stirring it into a light brown mixture.

“Presents?” asked Charlie, letting his older sister’s paw go.

Nick walked purposefully towards the tired bun, catching her in the bend of his arm – he still had the two cups of hot coffee to hold – as she fell backwards without her little brother to keep her up. She turned around and buried her face into Nick’s chest, just as she always did in the mornings, almost falling back asleep, and she would have if it wasn’t for the fox whispering something into her ear before handing over her coffee.

…

“Isn’t it a little early in the morning to be opening presents?” Bonnie joked, smiling at her kits.

The fluffle whispered amongst themselves for a moment before turning around and shaking their heads no, having decided that it was, in fact, never too early to open Christmas presents.

Stu stood up from the couch and reached his paws high into the air before bringing them down to touch his toes before speaking. “It’s _not_ too early for presents?”

The fluffle shook their heads again.

“Well _I’ll be_ … I suppose we’ll just have to start opening them then, huh Bon?”

Mrs. Wilde took care to note the loving way the in which the buck-rabbit looked at his wife and children as he spoke.

Anyways, I feel as though I hardly need to tell you what happened next, as the following events were so pre-destined that it would really only to be proper to speak of them had they not happened at all.

But I’ll tell you anyways.

Charlie, after listening to his father give the go-ahead on present opening, attacked the gifts under the tree with about the same amount of thunder in his heels as one would come to expect.

“Careful! _Careful!”_ the mother rabbit scolded as the self-appointed first-present-opener shook a red plastic box with his quaky paws. “There’s something fragile in one of these boxes and I don’t remember which one. Just pick a gift for now, we’ll get through them all eventually.”

The tot scanned the plethora of pretty presents in search of the perfect first pick, eventually resting his eyes on a poorly wrapped rectangle (and believe me, those are the best words for describing what it was).

_Shanta Claws_

The gift bore the name of father Christmas himself in curved red lettering next to the word “From:” and right under the phrase “to Charlie.”

“ _This one.”_ The bruiser said as he tried to drag it from its resting place and into the center of the room.

“I’ve got it buddy,” Nick said as he stepped over to Charlie, quickly joined by Mr. Hopps, “Bring it here.”

The rectangle sat on its side (one of them) and the little rabbit sat on the heels of his little rabbit feet. His paws hovered mere inches away from it, almost as if they were warming themselves against the strange Christmas mirth the gift seemed to breathe.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Nick asked, and with that, the first layer of wrapping paper tore.

Shanta’s elves (a whole family of lemmings) must have taken this Christmas off, as the gift was wrapped and taped quite poorly, clearly done by the old saint himself. Claw marks punctured the paper in multiple stretches of paper and stranger still were the much smaller cuts and scratches which accompanied them in several places, almost as though another, tinier fox had tried to lend Shanta a paw. It was – overall – a pretty shoddy wrapping job, but “we’ve got no one to blame for the rush but ourselves since we only told him what we wanted yesterday.” Or at least that was what the chubby bunny thought to himself.

“ _No way_ …” was his next thought as he finally ripped a large patch open, revealing the smooth, rounded corner of the rectangle. “ _No way!_ ” he shouted again, now hopping up and down like a march hare. He yanked the rest of the wrapping off as forcefully as he could manage. A joyful scream caught in his throat.

“So, was it what you were hoping for?” Nick asked as he sat down on the couch, placing a now snoozing Judy in his lap.

Charlie held the teacher’s whiteboard firm to his chest, still trying to catch his breath in between joyful giggles. Most of the room was breathless with laughter too, Finnnick included.

“It even has the markers!” Charlie wheezed, clutching the board a little closer, “And a _really_ big eraser!”

He inched away from the center of the room, taking care in stepping over the paper scraps and tape left on the floor but unwilling to take his eyes off his new board’s snowy white surface. He sat down cross-legged, quickly joined by Joey and Claire, both curious to see what all the hub-bub was about.

In the midst of it all, Edmund stepped towards the circle of gifts, flexing his paws as he eyed his mark.

“You’re up next, huh?” Nick asked the rabbit, only to be ignored. The little tyke didn’t see much reason in dignifying the silly fox with a reply.

Of course he was next.

So, being next as he was, the little fluff ball snatched his gift up off the ground. It wasn’t at all shaped like his brother’s gift (though it shared the same quality wrap job); the present took the shape of a ring with shiny red paper coiled around it. The bunny undid the wrapping paper with one quick tug, letting it fall to the floor as his new toy was revealed. Nick gave a sharp gag – which disturbed Judy, who, lest you forget, was still sleeping upon the fox’s lap – and Finnick laughed a laugh through his nose; the type of laugh which sounds something like a pig’s snort. Nobody was quite sure why.

“Ah ool-oop?” Edmund gasped, holding the newly unveiled hula hoop in his paws.

“A Hula hoop?” Bonnie and Stu echoed in unison.

“He never mentioned anything about wanting a hula hoop.” Bonnie said, turning to face her husband.

“No… not once.” Stu replied, looking his mate in the face, both rabbits raising an eyebrow.

“I guess Shanta really _did_ understand your request, huh bud?” Nick said to the squirt of a bunny, but his words fell on deaf ears – which is particularly impressive when the words are addressed to a rabbit – as Edmund had gone off to the opposite end of the room. He held the hoop close but never attempted to use it.

Judy stirred on Nick’s lap, shuffling around in an attempt to roll over. When she managed, she stared up into the fox’s face, her nose twitching curiously. This, of course, prompted Nick to give it a little poke, which, _of course,_ led to a fake growl erupting from the bunny (you’ll have to understand; this was all part of their song and dance now). When she pushed back against his finger her took to tickling her fluffy paw pads, causing her feet to curl at his loving touch.

Mrs. Wilde’s hackles rose as she watched them.

-and they rose ever so slightly more when the first “ _bang ba bang_ ” came to them from the stairs outside the apartment door.

Nick’s muzzle turned sideways into a devilish-looking smile and his ears twitched in response to the next several bangs. All the while he tickled the foot of the rabbit sitting on his lap.

There seemed now to be a stomping outside in the hall, and after it came a heavy clopping.

Edmund paused for a moment – as he was fiddling with his hula hoop – and furrowed his wavy bunny brow. It seemed as though a word or two was on the tip of his tongue, but he decided against speaking and swallowed them.

“Reindeer hooves?” Joey wondered aloud. “But I thought Shanta got here last night? Why is he out in the hall with his reindeer helper?”

“I don’t think it’s Shanta, bud.” Said the fox.

Most of the adults in the room wore looks of confusion. Bonnie looked towards the front door. Judy sat up, a little more awake than she had been before.

Nick looked as pleased as ever.

Finnick seemed absolutely disinterested.

“ _Ah,_ there they are!” the fox shouted, startling Judy a little. “Joey, Claire, could you two get the door please?”

The rabbit kits looked at one another and then at their mother, who looked back at Nick. The vulpine gave her a wink, a very sly wink, and so Bonnie shrugged, waving them off.

Joey grabbed the knob (he was a good bit taller, at least by an inch) and turned it. When they saw who stood on the other side of the door frame they forgot any manners they had been taught and let their mouths drop to the ground.

“Well then! Aren’t you just the most preciousest darlins this side of the city line!” a hippopotamus cooed in a motherly, singsong voice.

The Miss Hippo standing in the doorway wore a racer’s jacket and large black leather pants. She carried a helmet under her arm, the same type of helmet you’d expect to see on a motorist down at the burrows race track.

“Ahem- “a gruff voice sounded behind the hippo, clearing its throat. “ _Hello there.”_

The ZPD chief stood there, looking uncharacteristically uncomfortable.

“Our good friend Shanta Claws tells us we were needed here, is that tr- “the Hippo could hardly finish her sentence before she was pulled – nearly dragged – by the paw into the apartment.

“Oh, come in Shirley Gayla! Won’t you come in come in?” Claire squealed. “We’re opening presents now!”

Jack led bogo by the hoof in much the same fashion, and Judy nearly had a heart attack at the sight of what (or rather, who) her brother had just dragged in.

“Chief!” She shouted, hopping from her fox’s lap. “What a- “she took a moment to smooth the wrinkles out of her pajama top, “What a pleasant surprise!”

“Easy Hopps” the cape buffalo murmured, clearly not _incredibly_ pleased to be led around by a little rabbit. Joey motioned for him to take a seat on the nearest couch, which he obliged.

“So, Mr. Claws said you go by Claire.” Miss. Gayla tittered as the doe led er to her own seat beside the police chief.

“It is!” said Claire.

“Is it short for something? Like Clarice perhaps? Or Clarabelle?”

“Nope!” Claire (not Clarice nor Clarabelle) said.

The hippo swallowed, recovering from the quick, dismissive answer – she knew that kits can get that way when they’re even a tad over-excited – and smiled again. “Well, Claire is the bestest name _I’ve_ ever heard, so I’m happy to meet you.”

“Speaking of things Mr. Claws spoke to us about- “Bogo sat up in an uncomfortable position and cleared his throat, obviously not used to this sort of thing, “He told me you were hoping for a tour of the Zootopia Police Department. Did I hear him right?” He looked at joey as he spoke.

The buck had been pulling his long ears down against the side of his head, twisting and gripping them as one might do with their hair when talking with someone they really admire. When Bogo said this, however, he let them go so that they flew back up to attention.

“You heard him right!”

The chief started back in his seat, which was quite a sight to see. It isn’t every day you watch a rabbit startle a full-grown bull several times his size.

Judy took her spot next to Nick again, deciding that it’s a bit too late to change into presentable clothes seeing as her boss has already seen her lounging in her PJs up on her partner’s lap. She turned to the fox, giving him a knowing smile.

Nobody ever did find out just why it was that Miss Gayla came to stay with them that Christmas morning. Some say she knew Nick back during his hustling days and owed him a favor, while others believe they’d been friends since childhood and swear by it. The general belief of most of the mammals gathered at the party that day – and I think this to be the most likely theory of all – is that Shanta himself hopped on his sleigh after hearing Claire’s request, and flew right down to the track to speak with the racer.

…

There is something undeniably inviolate about a Christmas dinner. If you ask Nick or Judy just why that is – either one is fine; the answer is invariably the same – they’d tell you “It’s because mom makes it.”

There are some mothers out there (and quite a few fathers, don’t misunderstand) who can really cook up a magical Christmas meal. That’s why one would assume that both Mrs. Hopps and Mrs. Wilde in the same kitchen would be a heavenly combination.

And yet, somehow, Mrs. Wilde couldn’t quite see it that way.

The Hopps family matriarch hummed a pleasant tune as she chopped the red onion in front of her into eight perfectly proportioned wedges.

It stung Mrs. Wildes eyes.

The vixen pierced the beetroot in her paws with an extended claw, peeling the skin away and revealing its red, red insides.

“Beetroot and squash wellington was Judy’s favorite holiday meal back when she was just a kit.” Bonnie explained, taking a break from humming her cheery song, “What was Nicks?”

Before she could respond – not that she was going to – Mrs. Wilde’s attention snapped towards the sound of bunny laughter out in the living room.

“Roll over Beety! Roll over!” Charlie said to the great-horned bug on the carpet in front of him and his siblings.

Apparently, this year’s Christmas gifts from Bonnie and Stu Hopps to their children were pet beetles and this set of siblings finally opened theirs.

“Beetles can’t roll over Charlie! Pa, tell Charlie beetles can’t roll over.” Joey turned to his father as he spoke.

“Beetles can’t roll over Charlie.” Stu echoed, not wanting to be distracted from his engaging conversation with their buffalo guest who, coincidently, had quite the impressive knowledge base of botany facts.

“Beety is the bestest name a beetle can have, don’t you think Claire?” Miss Gayla laid on the floor next to the rabbit who summoned her, watching the kits play with their newfound pet.

Nick still sat comfortably with that rabbit of his, which shouldn’t come to a surprise to the vixen as he hasn’t left her side since she came in this morning.

“Dearie, could you hand me the thyme?” the motherly rabbit beside her started up again. Mrs. Wilde brushed the paw-picked leaves onto a nearby towel, giving the bunch over.

“I hope it’s fine by you and your boy that we’re having a vegetarian dinner tonight. We rabbits don’t do well with grubs and that sort of stuff.”

The look on Mrs. Wilde’s face in that instance must not have been a good one, as Bonnie had sort of flinched and looked away the second they made eye contact. The fox composed herself, smoothed out her holiday dress and swallowed hard.

“It’s fine, really. We can eat our veggies. Nicky – excuse me, Nick – used to devour all the green stuff on his plate before he even so much as glanced at the meats.”

The mother rabbit looked at her foxy counterpart again, confused at first, but quickly adopting her sweet smile once more.

“Nick? I would never have guessed it.”

“The boy would sit and munch on carrots.” Mrs. Wilde almost sighed as she spoke, unraveling sheets of puff pastry. “He would do this thing…” she paused, holding a paw to her mouth as if acting out some distant memory, “he’d sorta peel the carrot with his teeth before eating them, so there’d be carrot shavings all over his chair and the floor. I don’t know why, but he did it every time.”

Bonnie, still slightly confused but not ever one to interrupt a mammal strolling down memory lane, chuckled.

“Judy used to do the same thing.”

“Did she?”

“Mmm-Hmm.”

“Maybe foxes and rabbits are more alike than we thought.” She said so as if it were more a joke than anything else, but something inside her made her pause – as if she’d just had some shocking epiphany, but she shrugged it off and started cutting pastry sheets.

Bonnie moved behind the vixen with the veggie innards in her paw. Without thinking, Mrs. Wilde spun on her heel to take another look at the cookbook, accidently bumping her cooking partner in the process. The rabbit kept a firm grip on the vegetables.

“Oh! I’m so sorry Mrs. Hopps!” the vixen had placed a paw on the other women’s shoulder without so much as thinking.

The mother rabbit giggled a little, covering her mouth with her paw, and when she found she couldn’t hold the laughter in any longer, she let it out. “It’s fine dearie.” She chuckled.

“Mrs. Hopps- “

“Really, it’s fine. With as many kits as I’ve got running around back at home, I think I’m used to bumping hips with a mammal or two come dinner time.” She delicately placed the vegetables in the pastry sheets the vixen had been preparing. “And really, Mrs. Wilde,” she placed the pastries into the oven as she spoke and turned the dial, “We should be on a first name basis, all things considered.”

The vixen was stunned. She brushed her ears back absent-mindedly, smearing dough into her fur in the process.

“So, call me Bonnie.” The other mother said, her paw extended.

And the vixen took it.

“Martha, call me Martha.”

…

“Lil’ Fuch, go!”

“What do you think I am? Some kind of carnival attraction? I’m not gonna talk just because you ask me to.” The fennec barked at the children as they watched him.

The fluffle broke into noisy laughter.

“Your voice is so deep, Mr. Finnick.” Claire said as she sat atop her hippo hero’s lap.

The fox rolled his eyes, but it was hardly hard to tell that he was enjoying the attention just a little bit.

“Hush up, we’re supposed to be guessing right now.”

Chief Bogo stood in the middle of the room, flapping his arms and pecking at the air with his nose. If you’d have just seen below his face fur, I have a feeling he’d be rather pink.

“Come on everyone, this is an easy one.” The buffalo groaned as he acted his word out.

“No talking! This is charades!” Nick shouted.

“Rooster!”

“Turkey!”

“Duck!”

The kits threw guess after guess at the bull.

“Close, you’re close.”

“Hey! What did I say about talking?” Nick admonished his boss again.

“Hik-in!” Edmund cried.

There was a pause. Nick, who was in charge of the game cards, took a quick glance at the word before turning the card over and shaking his head. “No, that’s not it.”

“What? What did he say?” asked Miss Gayla.

“Hik-in.” the fox explained.

“Nuh! Hik-in!” the tyke repeated, enunciating this time.

“Yeah, sounds like Hik-in to me.” Judy agreed, leaning into her fox.

Mrs. Wilde almost laughed.

“It’s a bird, I’ll give you that. Why don’t you make the sound it says, chief?” Nick took another look at the card before wrapping an arm around his rabbit and reclining on the sofa.

“I thought we weren’t allowed to speak?” Bogo hissed through clenched teeth.

“You just can’t form words.” Wilde explained, “though, if we’re being honest here, this sound is all I hear when you talk anyways.”

Judy smushed her face into the fox’s linen shirt in an attempt to smother her laughs.

“You’re walking on thin ice, Wilde.”

“Excuse me, sir, will you remind me just who it was that invited Mr. ‘I’ve got nobody to spend Christmas with’ over in the first place?”

The kits were mildly confused by the fox’s comment, as the answer, to them at least, was obvious.

“Why, Shanta Claws did _of course_.”

Nick blinked.

“Um, Mr. Bogo, your turn is over.” Stu explained, pointing to the little hourglass sat upon the coffee table.

“It’s ok chief! You can sit next to me for this next round!” Joey chirped at him, scooting over to make room (although not nearly enough room for a buffalo).

Bogo sighed as he took his place, a little smushed, amongst the other mammals on that couch.

“Say, what was your word anyways?” Miss Gayla asked.

“ _Chicken.”_ Nick and Bogo spoke in unison. Edmund’s head hit his lap in frustration.

…

There was a time, not so long ago, that Nick’s father would pull a chair out for his wife at the dinner table. He’d drag it to his chest and tap his claws against its back frame before smiling with that cocksure smile of his. So, when Nick did the same thing, the same chair pull, the same claw tap, the same smile, for a rabbit; Mrs. Wilde found herself looking in a funhouse mirror.

Nick rubbed his paws together as he looked down at this meal, licking his chops. “Boy o’ boy, _this smells delicious.”_

Judy nodded, watching her mate work himself up into that feeding frenzy he always worked himself up into whenever a good dinner was on the table. “You guys really outdid yourselves. I can’t cook anything half as tasty-looking as this.”

“Oh, well you can thank Martha for that, I just pittered about, helping out where I could.” Bonnie said, adjusting her silverware.

Nick squinted at his mother in confusion, but a smile quickly found its way to his face. “Martha?” he asked, wide-eyed.

“That’s ‘Ma’ to you.” Mrs. Wilde said haughtily, picking her fork up off her napkin. She smiled at Bonnie, though just for a moment. A polite smile.

Nick laughed, shook his head in disbelief and whistled. “Glad to see you’re making friends.”

Mrs. Wilde scoffed. “Hush up, we’re here to eat, aren’t we?”

…

“So, like this?” Joey raised his paw to his forehead, puffing his chest out and straightening his back. He looked like an officer in salute.

“ _There you go!_ ” Bogo said through a tired smile.

“Do you really think I’ll make a good officer Mr. Bogo? Hones- hehe hehe- hey!” the kit was cut off mid-sentence by Nick, who took to tickling him under the arms (being in a salute as he was, it was too good an opportunity to pass up.)

“Sorry Joey, but a cop should be able to salute even in the face of the tickle fox.”

“ _Yeah_?” the buck asked as he tried to catch his breath.

“Yeah, I do believe that’s in the rulebook.” Judy explained as she flipped through channels, all the party having settled down for the evening.

“Well, I can take it then.”

No words could have made Nicholas Wilde a happier fox in that moment.

Mrs. Wilde – Martha, as she had come to be known – watched as her son continued his teasing onslaught of ticklish terror on the tiny rabbit. There was something oddly familiar and altogether too familial about the scene.

The kit found he couldn’t keep from laughing, and in his defeat, threw his arms around the fox and, as an octopus drags its prey into its break-back grasp, held him close. His twitchy nose rubbed against the underside of Nick’s chin and then it was the fox who couldn’t keep from laughing. He carried the bun back to the couch and took his place next to Judy again. The rest of the rabbits followed, piling up around the couple, surrounding them with fluff.

And love.

It was then that Mrs. Wilde had the most horrific realization, and if you had been there and had your eye on her you too would have seen the exact moment that her world turned topsy turvy.

Though, it could be argued that the word was gently shifting onto its head the moment she met the whole lot of bunnies.

“Martha?” Bonnie asked, concerned.

“ _Mmm_ \- “the vixen cleared her throat, making a very wet sound, “ _hmm_?”

“What’s wrong dearie?

The rest of the party had turned their attention to the mother fox now.

“Nothing.” She said, wiping at her eyes.

“Ma?” Nick had sat up from his seat.

There was a breath of silence.

“I- “Mrs. Wilde began, “I’ve really been quite awful, haven’t I?”

Bonnie and Stu exchanged glances.

“Nuh- Not at all…” the mother rabbit said in a whisper.

“I thought we were worlds apart, you know.” The mother fox chuckled dryly, her voice raspy. Bonnie handed her a handkerchief, which she gladly accepted.

Finnick, Bogo, and Miss Gayla, who really had no business hearing a word this, shrank into their chairs.

“But seeing you guys, what you have here I mean, well, I realize I’m just a beast.” The vixen tried to conjure up a smile.

“You- “

“ _No.”_ the vixen interrupted the doe, “You don’t need to argue, just accept my apologies.”

The rest of the room turned to watch Bonnie, waiting on a response. For a while she said nothing. Her silence was smothering.

And then she did say something.

“Martha, if you’re as humbled as you let off, and I do believe you are, you’ll listen to my next few words real careful and real sincere like.” Her voice was stern but loving, just like you’d expect a mother’s to be.

Mrs. Wilde choked back a slight gag.

“You’re my family now. You’re _our_ family now.” The kit’s ears rose to attention as they heard their mother say this. “What you did, how you acted, it wasn’t the most polite way. But we’re not always the most polite bunch ourselves, so if you think for just one second that you aren’t one of us because you carried around some nasty prejudices before you got here, well I’m going to have to talk some sense into you darlin, because that just isn’t how things work with us.”

“You know, Martha.” It was Stu’s turn to speak, “I wasn’t the most peaceable fella out there the day Jude first brought Nicholas down to the farm.”

Nick grinned.

“Ya see, I was a bit of a buffoon myself. Had my own prejudices I suppose, but Nick helped me look past it, and If that’s gone and happened to you today,” he nodded to his wife, “well, we’re closer family already.”

Mrs. Wilde gasped for air again, wiping away the now streaming tears. A smile started to find its way back onto her muzzle.

But there was still something to be done.

She turned to Judy.

“Judy, darling, if there’s ever someone I should be apologizing to, it’s you. I want you to know that this old croon of a fox is sorry. I was so caught up in the assumption that my boy’s mate would be a vixen that I hadn’t made room in my thick head for the idea that she could be the most wonderful rabbit I’d ever meet. Do you think you could forgive me?”

Judy sat up and placed her paw atop Nick’s.

“You’re not an old croon.” She whispered. Mrs. Wilde swallowed a sob. “But I have a question for you of my own.”

The vixen looked her in those big purple jewels where she should have had eyes.

“Will you be able to love us?”

“I think I already do.” The fox choked.

“Then there’s nothing I need to forgive you for, Mom.”

Mrs. Wilde fell forward and out of her chair, stumbling over to her son and his mate. The three embraced and kissed and cooed and giggled and cried.

“ _Snuh!_ ”

Everyone turned to the source of the voice and were in awe at what they saw.

By the window, across the room, Edmund stood atop the window seat, a paw pressed to the icy glass pane. The thickest snow of the season had begun to fall.

…

Joey and Claire did cartwheels in the snow piles, landing on their backs and quickly transitioning into making snow angel-bunnies right there in front of the apartment complex. Charlie and Edmund, neither of whom could do a cartwheel, stomped around in the fluffy white powder, tugging their red scarves tight around their throats.

“Don’t get much snowfall like this down at the burrows.” Stu said with a whistle.

“No, not at all.” Miss Gayla agreed.

“Don’t see much of it here in Savannah central either.” Bogo added.

…

“So, are you pleased with how all this turned out?” Judy asked the fox standing close beside her. They watched the street collect its pale blanket.

“Holidays with your family are always… _exciting._ ”

“I know _that.”_ The rabbit said with a nudge. “But what about your mom?”

The fox thought for a moment.

He smiled.

“I think…” he wrapped his paws around her waist as he spoke, tugging her into him, pressing himself against her, “My family just got a whole lot bigger, and that’s _always_ a good thing.

Judy looked up, meeting him snout to snout.

“Yeah… _it is_ …” she whispered back, leaning her muzzle in towards his.

“ _Ahem.”_

Nick turned to meet Joey face to face. The rabbit kit was stood on Charlie’s shoulders, and on his stood Claire, who held Edmund up top, and in the tiniest bun’s paw, held over his sister and her fox was a green sprig of mistletoe.

Nick grinned at the rabbits, and his grin widened more and more as time went on; to the point where Edmund knew it was time to start worrying. Without a word, Nick plucked the bun bun off the top of the lapin totem pole and kissed him wet and sloppy-like.

“ _Ugh!_ Fuch, _nuh_!”

Edmund wapped him in the face till he put him down, at which point he turned to Judy and did just the same.

Claire crawled off the bun tower and Joey leaped off after her, losing his balance and bracing himself with his arms as he hit the ground. When he stood up, two paw prints were left in the snow.

“Wow! My paws sure are getting big!” the eldest brother said.

Charlie, certain that he had the bigger paws, shoved his own two down into the snow next to the set left by his brother.

“ _Those_ are big paws.” He said (though they weren’t very much bigger than the ones beside them).

Edmund stuck his paws into the snow next, then followed by Claire to complete the set. The grown-ups, seeing what was going on, decided to add their own prints to the ground. Rounding them off were imprints clearly made by a rabbit and a fox.

…

Things most find awfully endearing:

Eleven sets of snowy paws on the ground, all very different, all undeniably the same.

…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh!   
> Hello again.   
> The final Chapter of Snowy Paws has finally arrived, and it’s only a month late.  
> Sorry about that, guys. I guess I just got caught up in thoughts and all that jazz. Compounding that, school started back up and I was given the position of environmental campaign coordinator in an organization I’ve been working with. Needless to say, I’ve been having a bit of a mental crisis trying to balance my time properly. I do hope the fact that the Christmas season has long since passed doesn’t diminish your liking of this story much, though I couldn’t really blame you if it does.  
> Still, thanks for taking time out of your day to read my trash! Leave a review/comment about what I did well and what I can do better, I’m horribly lonely.  
> Also,  
> As an announcement to whoever may be interested:   
> What I Didn’t Do will be receiving an update soon, and the next story chapter is in the works as we speak (err- you read). Both of these chapters are shaping up to be fun ones (in all the worst ways possible), so stay tuned for that!  
> And now back to our regularly scheduled angst-fest!

**Author's Note:**

> Look, fluff! Did you like it? Drop me a comment and let me know! I can’t spend much time on this particular author’s note as I really should be going – holiday season and all that jazz – but I’d like to thank you for reading! Probably gonna see two more entries to this.


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